The official practice of horse jumping has been around for at least as early as the 1700s when the British parliament enacted the Enclosures Act, which required that lands be fenced off from one another. From that point on, a horse needed to be able to jump a fence so the rider could pursue game and reach their destination more quickly than having to go around fenced-in areas of land. In less than a hundred years, the art of show jumping had become well known in Europe. Now horse jumping is a worldwide activity; spanning continents and is represented in three components of the summer Olympics.
Typically when a person is training a horse to jump, a stand-alone portion of fence is erected using two end pieces, or standards, to hold a pole, a bar, a gate or the like between the “posts.” Standards can be made up of a single post, a short section of fence, a column, or any other decorative and/or functional arrangement. Standards typically range in weights from 15 pounds to about 35 pounds, with modified standards weighing as much as 100 pounds. Standards can be made out of various materials, including wood, metal, stone, plastic, and the like.
Between the pair of standards, a pole, a bar, a gate, a plank, a panel, decorative wall, or the like is supported and this is the object over which the horse jumps. For simplicity, a pole will be used herein to describe the object that the horse is trained to jump over, but it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill that a “pole” can include, but is not limited to a gate, a bar, a portion of fence, a plank, a panel, a decorative wall, and the like.
Oftentimes, standards have a series of holes drilled along the height of the standard facing the inside of the jump or a patterned track, which allows jump cups, or arced supports, to be attached to the standards at various heights. These jump cups hold the pole in position. Jump cups can comprise a shallow arc or flat surface so the pole can easily “break away” if the horse's foot comes in contact with the pole during a jump. Jump cups can also be “deep” to hold the pole in position. Jump cups can also be a breakaway style jump cup. These are designed to break away from the standard and fall straight down should enough pressure be exerted on them.
Currently, when a rider wishes to train a horse to jump a certain distance, in addition to a certain height, they must install a second pair of standards and a second pole at a certain distance in front of the first pair of standards. This not only increases cost, but also requires more time to set up and transport equipment. Another alternative is for the rider or trainer to purchase modified standards. Modified standards are fixed in width, heavy, and expensive.
One object of the present invention is to provide a device that allows trainers, riders and the like to train horses to jump distances using only a single pair of standards. The device of the present invention saves the user time, money, storage space, and labor. The present invention allows for more flexibility in set up and reduces the possibility of injury by reducing the amount of equipment needed to transport and move to set up a course.